Man sentenced 20 to 35 years in connection with Hamtramck murders

Miguel Rodriguez sentenced on second-degree murder charge in connection with death of Hamtramck women

A man who pled guilty in connection with the kidnapping and murder of two Hamtramck women in February was sentenced to 20-to-35 years in prison Friday.

Miguel Rodriguez plead guilty to second degree murder in connection with the deaths of Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway.

During sentencing, Judge Vonda Evans said, "During sentencing, Judge Vonda Evans said, "There are no winners in this case - especially not those two girls. The promise that they had is gone. Let me say this to you Mr. Rodriguez. I always like to think that there is always some type of view that comes out of this. And this one is a cowardly chameleon. Let me tell you something about yourself. A chameleon is something that blends in with the surroundings to protect itself from danger. You will do or say anything to protect yourself at any cost.” One thing sir, you may wash your body but you will never wash your soul for what you’ve done. You do no honor, whatsoever, to the lives of the ones you love.”

Police said Brown and Conaway were forced at gunpoint from the home and put into a trunk of a car in late February. Family members say the received a text message from one of the girls saying they were in the trunk and they indicated who was abducting them. Their bodies were discovered in March in shallow graves in a Detroit park. They had been bound and shot in the head. Authorities say the women may have been targeted for telling police about an earlier shooting.

Earlier this week two juries convicted four men of murdering the two women. One jury convicted Reginald Brown and cousin Jeremy Brown, and the other convicted Brandon Cain and Brian Lee.

All but Lee face mandatory penalties of life in prison without possibility of parole for first-degree murder at their sentencing Dec. 21. Lee faces up to life for second-degree murder.